The Chinese ancestry of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, whose family hails from China’s Fujian province, has fueled anger against the Philippines here in Beijing.

In a forum with Filipino and Thai journalists, Shi Ding, deputy editor in chief of top Chinese news website Huanqiu.com, cited no particular statement from the Philippine government, but singled out a person who, in a way, is one of their own: “It’s your president, President Aquino.”

Shi said on Friday, June 26: “There are many statements…and also actions of his. And the most important thing, he actually has some Chinese blood. Because of his background, most of the Chinese people are very angry about what he says and what he does.”

Read more on Rappler.

The Greek parliament approved a referendum on the latest offer of a debt deal by the country’s EU-IMF creditors by a majority vote late Saturday night, June 27, according to the assembly’s count.

This vote comes as the cash-strapped country is at risk of financial turmoil. On Tuesday, June 30, it may not be able to make a 1.5 billion euro repayment to the IMF – and, on the same day, a financial assistance plan extended to Athens since 2012 will end.

Read Agence France-Presse’s dispatch from Athens, on Rappler.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) stressed the need to care for all, regardless of sexual orientation, after the US Supreme Court declared gay marriage legal throughout the world’s most powerful nation. 

“All will continue to find welcome in the Church, while, under the command from the Lord himself, will continue to teach what the Church has unceasingly taught,” CBCP president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said in a statement Saturday, June 27.

Read more on Rappler.

Several consumers of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) expressed outrage on social media Saturday, June 27, over its Annual Update of Bill Deposit program (AUBD), which they called unnecessary and unjust.

A bill deposit, according to Meralco Spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga, is equivalent to the estimated billing for one month, serving as a security for unpaid bills. Some Meralco consumers questioned the need for bill deposits, saying the service provider cuts the power supply anyway when customers fail to pay on time.

Read more on Rappler.

Those who regret how time flies can look forward to June 30, 2015 – a day that will be one second longer than usual. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), June 30 will have an extra second or “leap” second because of a gradual slowing down of the Earth’s rotation.

Leap seconds are added by experts at NASA to make up for differences between two internationally-accepted time standards due to a gradual slowing down of the Earth’s rotation.

Read more on Rappler.

Benedict Serrano couldn’t believe it when he heard he topped the May 2015 nursing board licensure examination, getting a score of 86.40%, the highest among 17,981 total examinees, 9,707 of whom passed.

He had a reason to be a bit skeptical at first. What are the odds he would top another licensure exam? In 2013, he topped the midwifery examination.

Read more on Rappler.

For the Pinoy fans who waited for hours to meet their favorite YouTube stars in the flesh, it was a night of epic proportions. Both local and international YouTubers banded together Saturday night, June 26, to put on a great show for the crowd. 

Fans surged forward to the stage, eager for a closer look at their idols. The lineup, which included a number of comedians and vloggers, also ensured a varied set buoyed by musical numbers from YouTube heavyweights like Bethany Mota and Kurt Hugo Schneider.

See the highlights on Rappler.

The legendary Alamo battleground and the vineyards that produce France’s beloved champagne are among the sites likely to get World Heritage status at a UNESCO meeting starting Sunday, June 28.

At least 36 natural and cultural sites, including a disputed bid from Japan, are vying to get the United Nations cultural body’s prestigious distinction and add their names to the more than 1,000-strong list.

Read more on Rappler.

The Philippines will be in Group B of the FIBA-Asia Championship in 2015 to be held in Wuhan, China in September. The final groupings were determined after the draw for the tourney was held on Saturday, June 27.

Philippines will be together with Kuwait, Palestine, and one more team from East Asia – either Hong Kong or Mongolia. In the 2013 FIBA Asia tilt, the Philippines placed silver after falling to Iran in the gold medal match.

Read more on Rappler.

One Japanese start-up is hoping to deliver shooting stars on demand and choreograph the cosmos. And, say scientists, it’s not just about painting huge pictures on the night-sky that would be visible to millions of people; artificial meteors could help us to understand a lot more about Earth’s atmosphere.

Lena Okajima, who holds a doctorate in astronomy, says her company, ALE, is intending to launch a micro satellite that can eject shooting stars at exactly the right time and place to put on a celestial show.

Read more on Rappler.